SRINAGAR, Dec 6: Minister for Finance and Labour & Employment, Dr Haseeb A Drabu today said schools in Kashmir Valley should become centres for change in addressing the social disorder and chaos in our society.

“No human being is born with the innate desire for ferment. We grew up in a normal environment but today, it’s an abnormal situation. Schools are the best places to understand and effect the change we require to make J&K a peaceful and prosperous state,” he said.

“Schools must take cognizance of the situation around and train students to face the real world, not just for landing good jobs. Give them (students) tools to understand the situation. Once they deal with it, they will be able to change it,” he said.

The Minister was speaking at a felicitation ceremony organized by Doon International School here for its two students, Moomina Manzoor and Mehsood Fatima, and their coach, Umar Akbar, who won gold and silver medals at a Taekwondo championship held at Macau, China last month.

Congratulating the students, Dr Drabu said they have brought laurels for J&K and the entire country, “I am amazed by the kind of talent we have in Kashmir. You need nurturing and caring and I am sure you will continue to scale newer heights,” he said.

Regretting the systemic erosion of societal values in Kashmir, the Finance Minister said Jammu and Kashmir used to be a diverse, liberal and emancipated society, “Globally, there has been a rise to dominance of illiberalism and J&K is no exception but no culture is richer than J&K as regards our diversity. And our future lies in going to past to discover our liberal moorings,” he said.

Dr Drabu said schools should evolve as per the cultural context in which they are situated, “Every school has a culture around it and it should adapt some of its teachings. We must spend time to venture into troubled societies and bring sensitivity among the students which will also help in chalking out long term solution to our problems,” he said.

Exhorting the students to enjoy life to the fullest, Dr Drabu advised them to stop worrying about future, “It is important to be a good human being rather than being an out-performer. Imbibe education as a way of living life and make sure everybody around you is happy and not just yourself. Build relationships and try create an enclave of peace prosperity and happiness. You must create a world that you aspire to live in,” he said.

SRINAGAR, Dec 6: Leh experienced the coldest night this winter as the minimum temperature there settled over 13 degrees Celsius below the freezing point.
An official of the MET department said here that last night was the coldest night the frontier town has experienced so far.
Leh had witnessed the previous lowest of minus 13.5 degrees Celsius on 23 November.
The nearby Kargil town recorded a low of minus 7.5 degrees Celsius, 2.3 degrees down from the previous night, the official said, addin